: it credits the strategy with overcoming the 1.1 million votes that went for democrats in the last election, and obviously the republican house is going to be a big problem, right? >> yes and if you think about providing an opportunity for americans to see which direction they want to go, if a senate can pass legislation even if it dies in the republican house, then americans can say my goodness let's get the democrats back in control of the house, but if both houses are paralyzed and the senate is paralyzed and the house is doing nothing, then it is kind of like throw up your hands and do nothing. >> stephanie: yeah exactly. senator merkley for those just tuning in and don't quite understand even what filibuster means. i know a lot of progressive groups came out against the mccain levin version. what is the difference between theirs and yours. >> mccain levin doesn't get rid of the filibuster unless you trade it off with amendments. it does not provide any form of talking filibuster. it does not say -- they actually have to stand and make their case, so it leaves the key tool utilized by t